Migrating Down South: Ashdod

Since I’m writing about my adventures 3 months a little too late, I will have to dig deep to remember some stories. But here’s a summary of what went down:

On August 16^th my program was starting in Ashdod, where I would be living for the next 5 months. I had no idea what to expect, but I was so excited for whatever was coming my way. Sarah helped me move from Laura’s apartment in Tel Aviv to my new one in Ashdod. We took a bus, then a train, then a cab to get here but when we did I was relieved to see that I would be living in a beautiful apartment that was 10 minutes from the beach. This would be the life! I met all the other 19 people on the program, I found out I would be living with 6 other people and having to share a room with another girl. My first thought was “well, there goes my privacy!” Thankfully it’s not as difficult as I thought it would be.

Our first week in Ashdod was an orientation week. We got to meet everyone, meet our city coordinators, learn about the program and discover our new surroundings by playing “The Amazing Race: Ashdod”. This is where I got a little nickname: Miss Moses. I was determined to finish that race when everyone else wanted to give up as soon as they found a sushi restaurant! I’m happy to say that I convinced them to not give up and to finish that race.

The next 2 weeks were all about Ulpan (Hebrew studies), beach, sunsets, discovering, meeting people and confusion! A lot of confusion! There were many times where I got on the wrong bus, took a wrong turn or bought the wrong thing at the grocery store. Turns out horseradish and mustard containers look very similar but taste very different. So no, horseradish on my sandwich was not what I planned for that day.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised with my new home, this new city and of course extremely excited about being 10 minutes away from the beach! I enjoyed every minute of my day just because I was in Israel. I had a permanent smile on my face.